The First Two Weeks

Flew by SO fast. That first week when my hubby and I were so overwhelmed by the baby, who wasn't sleeping and was so fussy and miserable seems so long ago. Then on August 21st, McBaby had his Bris and we hired a baby nurse (the wonderful Yvonne) for a week. My husband and I both SLEPT for a week. He slept through the night but I still heard my baby cry and did wake up to check in on him during the night (but left the care to Yvonne). We discovered he was gassy/fussy and switched his formula from the Enfamil Premium Lipil to the Enfamil Gentlease. It's helped with the gas, but now he's not pooping.

Sorry about that commentary, folks. But my son's bodily functions are very much on my mind these days. I'm so involved in his pee, poop, spit up, etc. that it's somewhat frightening. But his pooping is a sign of health, so if he doesn't poop by 6 pm today I actually have to call his pediatrician's office again. (I call a lot; new mom questions etc.)

But the baby is thriving. Here are his stats.

BIRTH
Weight 9 lb
Length 20.5 inches

2 DAYS (left hospital)
Weight: 8 lb 5 oz
Length: same
Bili Level: 9.6

3 DAYS (1st Pediatrician Visit)
Weight: 8 lb 4 oz
Length: same
Bili Level: LabCorp didn't send results, had to retest the next day at the local hospital

MADE DECISION TO FORMULA FEED ON DAY 3 AND THINGS BEGAN TO IMPROVE!

5 DAYS (Follow-Up due to Jaundice/Lab Mix Up)
Weight: 8 lb 8 oz
Length: same
Bili Level: 7 (all is well)

14 DAYS (The Two Week Visit)
Weight: 9 lb 5 oz (back to birth weight and then some!)
Length: 20.75

So the baby is healthy, growing, eating, sleeping (though that's an adventure), peeing but not pooping (need to watch that). And here he is, a picture of him sleeping the other day.

My Newborn Vampire

Not in the sense that he drinks blood (that would be Enfamil, thank you) but because he has his days and nights mixed up. He's up and fussy between 1 and 4 am and, because of that, mommy and daddy are TIRED.

Now I seem better able to tolerate this than my husband. He's sleeping now while I'm blogging because I woke up STARVING. But I'm having "digestive issues" from my tear and finding something plain to eat is hard. Our family has helped by buying us groceries and bringing dinner, but the pantry is bare.

However, McBaby (even though I've mentioned his name before, this is a public blog and I may often just use that name) is doing MUCH better and so am I. I somewhat regret not giving breastfeeding a chance, but it was the right decision. He eats a LOT! He went back to the pediatrician yesterday for a recheck and he'd gained back 4 oz and is now at 8lb 8oz and will likely be back at his birth weight by the weekend.

He's taking at least 2 oz of formula every 2 hours. Sometimes more! My Ped said to feed on demand, and if I had done that with the breast I'd be feeding him every hour. Though the cost of formula will take it's toll on us. I hope we'll manage.

I'm so glad he's thriving. And we're... surviving.

His Bris is tomorrow. I hope that goes well. Poor baby boy won't like THAT!

Days 1 & 2 Home with my Son

I'm not going to lie or go into the gory details, but yesterday SUCKED. My son didn't sleep, didn't eat, and I was so stressed that I felt insane. I tried pumping and I hated it and we ended up giving the baby formula—though not enough. He was STARVING. It broke my heart and both myself and my husband are exhausted today.

The baby has some minor health issues that should resolve themselves on their own. He's slightly jaundiced (need a 2nd bilirubin test tomorrow) and has hydroseal on his scrotum (water filled). If the latter doesn't get better on its own, he'll need to see a pediatric urologist.

But we went to the pediatrician today. It's a practice of 5 doctors and the one we saw was fantastic. She cared about both Aaron and me. And after seeing the pediatrician today, I've made a HUGE decision.

I'm not going to breastfeed.

While it's true that I'm not giving it a chance. I HATE pumping and after thinking long and hard about this, I don't want to be tied to a machine every 2 hours for weeks and pay all this money for lactation consultants and feel so stressed that my son feels stressed. So I'm going to be a proud formula feeder and let my milk dry up.

I was formula fed and turned out OK. I have several friends who went this route (and several who breastfed) and for my own mental sanity and health, I've made this choice.

Some women may judge me. But my friends won't.

Now to figure out how to survive engorgement/and shutting down milk production. But I feel better about that and that I'll be able to heal.

He's Here!

Our son, Aaron, was born on Friday August 14th at 2:31 PM. We are completely in love.



Here's how it all happened:

On Thursday night I checked in at the hospital at 8 PM for my induction. I was there for a few hours, dealing with paperwork and getting settled (blood draws, pick line, etc.) before the nurse inserted the Cervidil. In case you don't know, Cervidil is something like a suppository that makes the cervix thin out and become receptive for labor. That was an overnight deal, so I was also given an Ambien so I could sleep. I honestly didn't get much sleep—kept waking up to pee—but I did a little.

Then it was Friday morning around 7 AM. The nurse checked my cervix and while it hadn't dilated past the 1 cm I was the night before (and at my prior office visits), I was 100% effaced and the baby was at -1 station.

The OB on call (and one I really like) came by at 8 or 8:30 AM and checked me, and started me on the lowest dose of Pitocin (oxytocin, to cause contractions) possible. She also broke my water—that was weird! I was doing OK through them until around 10 AM, when they were beginning to make me nauseous. I was checked and was dilated to 3 and I got my epidural. It was AWESOME! And I progressed quickly after that. I rested, half-slept, and my husband played around on my laptop. When I was next checked—close to noon?—I was dilated to 7 CM!

My husband called my mom (and his mom) to let them know it was moving MUCH faster than we thought. It ended up moving even faster when, at 12:45 PM I was fully dilated to 10 cm and felt urges to push (even with the epidural, but it wasn't too painful). Hubby called the parents again and said COME NOW!!! Then the doctor came in, the nurse had me "practice push" for about an hour. My OB had another induction patient was also close but I apparently won the "race" and was to deliver first.

About 2 PM or so, I was READY. Honestly, I only pushed for about a half hour with brief breaks of Oxygen (baby's heartrate dipped a bit, as did mine, but we both perked up with the oxygen mask). It was tough, I felt like I couldn't get enough air in at a few times, but overall not too terrible. Aaron was born at 2:31 PM to comments from my OB of "Whoa that's a HUGE head" and "That's a BIG baby!!!"

Aaron weighed 9 lb even and was 20.25 (or 20.5) inches long. (Need to double check on length.)

The one BAD part of it all... he was so big that he didn't quite fit and I tore VERY badly. Basically as bad as one CAN tear. I have 4th degree tears to my perineum and rectum. My OB basically had to completely repair my anus. It's pretty painful and will be a tough recovery. I'm on major stool softeners and pain meds. I hope that I won't have any complications from this. But the doctors and nurses are all, apparently, amazed by my pain tolerance and my attitude and how such a "small person" (thanks for saying I'm small, at 5'4") had such a LARGE baby.

I guess that explains the 40 lbs I gained! Nine of it was baby, and about nine or so was blood volume, amniotic fluid, uterus, placenta, etc. I'm not weighing myself for a while—I don't need to know—and I can't exercise or do any heavy lifting for six weeks. So I'm just going to take it easy and get well. And learn to breastfeed. My son and I are learning together but we'll get there.

So there you go... he's here. Aaron. We feel so blessed to have him.